


Mokako and Fuyuse and Hiroshi and Cat

by Foodmoon, SectorDweller



Series: Moto-centric fics [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Moto clan, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 15:36:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20910005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foodmoon/pseuds/Foodmoon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SectorDweller/pseuds/SectorDweller
Summary: Mokako gets a happy rescue. Her pursuers not so much. Fuyuse discovers the inner workings of the Moto kitchen. Her kitty agrees.





	Mokako and Fuyuse and Hiroshi and Cat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thebibliophile_rises](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebibliophile_rises/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Look What the Carrot Patch Dragged In](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20668886) by [Foodmoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foodmoon/pseuds/Foodmoon). 

> Written by: SectorDweller, with a few phrasing tweaks from Foodmoon.
> 
> Mokako's pov is slightly suspect. She's a very dramatic soul.

There is something about running through the main street of Konoha at noon that has its oddities.

The otherwise bustling little town is still and sterile of all life, half of its people working at the fields, training their ninja arts _(or yelling the names thereof for the heck of it)_, working at the hospital or maybe having classes with the few-years-old ninja academy. The other half are either cleaning their houses, having fun, reading the newspaper _(how are those made in the Fire country anyway?)_ or sprawled in bed while catching that long desired noon nap. Some people may be writing stories _(though not the Icha-Icha one, the writer of that one is busy with his team and his sensei, or possibly Academy, depending on which direction you calculate Kishi's timeline.)_

At any rate, the streets are surprisingly empty, and it doesn't help that it is through one of these streets that Mokako is running for dear life. The two thugs who want to kidnap her are persistent, she'll give them that. The last time she caught a glimpse of them was two corners ago, but _that_ had been preceded by five _other_ streets that they'd chased her through. Hence, the persistence award.

She hopes that they are reaching the limits of their stamina, just as she feels how she is reaching her own. A chase to exhaustion and running through empty streets is a _bad combination_ because the average runaway usually expects to run into someone and be able to <strike>yell</strike> ask for help. Unfortunately, it is the exact thing that is _not_ happening today. The natural forces responsible for luck seem too distracted on this day to give any of it to her. Not only did they make all of her attempts to incapacitate her pursuers with her barely trained kekkei genkai fizzle out _(ok, that was a longshot anyway, because her aim is shit)_, now they're flunking out with the crowd-help-thing too!

Which means...that her victory is even more sound! An untrained girl winning a race against the underground's finest? By _herself?_ That is worth a pat on the back.

"Deadbeats! You're no match for me! Couldn't even catch me in an empty town, you losers!" she huffs triumphantly.

"Who?" A feminine voice behind her asks.

Mokako absolutely does _not_ squeak and jump half a foot in the air in <s>terror</s> surprise.

_Ohhh._ So now that her moment of triumph is here, _now_ the Kami finally experience a species-wide brainfart and go, 'derp,' sending the power of actual by-passers to the street. The power of 'derp' is obviously a bit weak though, considering that Mokako's belated blessing comes in form of a single girl popping up out of nowhere. She's wearing one of those strange coats that one of the families wear all the time, but Mokako can't put her finger on which clan it is. It's... It's... Right. The ones with the sunglasses. Cuz she's wearing those, too.

"The two hijackers who are chasing me." She explains.

"Hijackers?" The girl asks in confusion, then politely points out, "I don't see anyone."

"Of course you don't. I left them behind ten streets ago! They weren't _brave_ enough to face me. I even doubt that they're from Konoha at all - no one with that amount of cowardice would be in this village."

"But you said that you ra-"

"Before you say that I ran away, keep in mind that no self-respecting Leaf resident would face cowards in battle. Then again, not everybody out here is all tha- EEEEEEEEEP!"

"What's wrong?"

The confused girl watches Mokako twist her legs, arch her back, and jump away from an unseen oppressor before gasping, wide-eyed, and begging, "Get them off of me! Do something! _Please!"_.

"That's my cat." the girl says.

"Oh." Mokako eyes towards the claws that are climbing up her back, then glares at the cat once it climbs on top of her shoulder. Evidently a shoulder cat. "That wasn't what it looked like."

"You don't need to be afraid of her." She gives the impression of a cheerful, slightly sadistic smile from behind her coat collar and sunglasses.

"I'm not afraid of cats." Mokako says, looking back at the girl.

~

_Meanwhile, the two thugs are viewing them from a rooftop. On a day like this when no one is around, what self-respecting thug wouldn't take liberty to spy on people when there is no one around to see it? Granted, when the streets are busy, people don't really pay heed to it one bit since the Leaf shinobi do it all the time. On the other hand, how come these two girls haven't even caught a glimpse of them by now? Whatever girl stuff they are talking about must be so distracting that they stopped even considering the thugs. Then again, it might mean that said girl stuff makes these two guys unworthy of being paid heed to..._

_No matter. They'd soon swoop down with a terrifying crash and go, "You there! You are no match for us!" They'd give them a full lecture about how weak their observation skills are and how easy this will be for the thugs, before capturing both of them. It is going to be glorious!_

(Don't pay too much attention to these two. They're washed out former Academy students with no skills and a very Mokako-like mindset in life. And far less luck. _Far_ less luck. Their neighbors generally roll their eyes at them and occasionally report them for being public nuisances.)

~

They swoop down with a terrifying crash. "You there! Y-"

Mokako's nullifying field knocks them unconscious. **"I AM NOT AFRAID OF CATS, SISTER!"**

"Hey, don't yell about my cat." the girl says.

"Oh, did I? Sorry, I didn't mean to. Besides. They're adorable and cute and I luv them." The cat cuddles up to Mokako's cheek in response.

One of the thugs comes to, but the girl swiftly raises a giant anthill that swallows both of them. "That's good to hear! Isn't he adorable? He's such a cuddlemuffin when there's someone he likes."

Two people getting devoured by an oversized chunk of earth is one thing, but listening about dear lil' cuddlemuffin at the same time is something that Mokako's brain was not designed to process. First time for Mokako to ever see a jutsu in action _at all_, first time getting rescued by a girl who says this stuff in the cutest tone she's ever heard. To make matters more dumbfounding, 'cuddlemuffin' is licking her face with matching tenacity.

"Eeeeeh heheh. Cutiecuddlemuffin and an anthill." she blurts out wearily. Mokako needs to focus! Ninja arts are something to expect in a _shinobi_ village, so what is she getting riled up for? She's just not used to it, but she manages to get a hold of herself. Half-addressing and half-getting to know the girl who literally just saved her hide is what she ends up attempting to do, by saying, "You're one of those bug-people, aren't ya?"

The girl gets mostly attentive and less-than-half amused by this, but it's enough to produce a glint in her tone. "Or 'Aburame'. It's nicer and it's less irritating. I'm Fuyuse."

"Mokako Moto, nice to meet ya." Then, a way finally clicks in her head. "Say, how about we go grab something to eat? This whole running around thing made me hungry. Besides, it's the least I could do after what we've just been through."

Fuyuse mulls over this for a moment, then eye-smiles. "I was on my way to get something to eat, too."

And so, the girls make their way along the street, with the cat getting a free shoulder-ride to free food.

"Wouldn't it be nice if someone made a stall serving fresh food?" Mokako muses, "Something like a ramen stand. It would sure beat cooking or waiting for food to be cooked. Someone would make a killing out of that."

"Now that you mention it, it would sure beat both of them..."

"Right, and we wouldn't be waiting for something to cook ourselves either..."

The two look at each other for answers. Waiting for food is abominable and making their own food is really something they don't want to do after a hard day's fend-off. (if they happened to have cut corners in the fight, it doesn't mean that they didn't do 10 episodes worth of fighting in half a minute, right?)That being said, they could always scavenge for food and the safest place to do it is in their own homes. At least Mokako thinks of it that way, and since her place is close by...

~

The kitchen at Mokako's place is sure to have some sort of food lying around in the fridge. She doesn't live there alone and but she would surely get away with it if she replenishes the fridge later. Or if she picks some of the things that are in abundance, though there was no guarantee that there is anything in abundance at all. The only reliable evidence about food is the way that the kitty on her shoulder is sniffing at the door. Sensing something. Eager for more, just as Mokako's tummy is...

Ok, the only way she is getting out of this one is by playing dumb, but she doesn't exactly know how to do that (how is one even aware of how skilled they are at that sort of thing anyway?), but a _really_ spotless food-snatching would happen if the kitchen has no one else in it at this time. The chances of that happening are pretty random, but it is a nice thought to bear in mind.

If something goes wrong, she could always count on Fuyuse's ninja arts to get them out of trouble, though on the other hand, tossing insects at her family members or her housemates is not something that she wants, so it is probably healthier to avoid that sort of thing.

Wait, is Fuyuse an actual ninja? She personally doesn't know anyone like that (or at least no one who pulled a fully fledged ninjutsu that gobbled up a pair of humans in front of her eyes). There are, of course, the average joe ninjas in the village, but the community is pretty small and rarely anyone bothers with any attire to make it really distinguishable. The only ninjas who she was sure of were the rare ones from outside the village, mainly the ones with the twirly things on their headbands - they must've been from that village that mom keeps trumping about. Something about the Uzumakis and whatever slew of other surnames there is about it.

(Mokako is really bad with surnames. Memorizing all of the clans in the village is a feat of labor for some reason. Ok, so the surname of _‘The Ones with the Dogs’_ is simple enough, she doesn’t really have an excuse not to remember that one (whatever it is). But. The term for _‘The Ones with the Pretty Purple Eyes that Stare a Lot’_ is something that her mind simply refuses to adjust. Besides, she prefers the aforementioned description in her own head. (Come to think of it, what is Fuyuse's last name again? She'll try not to call her _'Ant Girl'_.))

The cat mewed. Getting snapped out of her thoughts by a hungry cat, accompanied by the look on <strike>ant girl</strike> Fuyuse and her respectable insect abilities is sobering enough. She puts her hand on the door handle to the main entrance to her home, quietly communicating to the higher powers that they trolled her enough today and that an acceptable kitchen situation would be welcome.

The kitchen is behind the front door so it doesn't take her long to find out that the state of the kitchen is... nothing like she imagined. The walls are plastered with food in a way that one thought comes to her mind immediately: 'Please don't make _me_ part of cleaning this up.' It doesn't stop the kitty from jumping off her shoulder and starting its thorough investigation at this delicious crime scene.

There are smears caused by a multitude of things, from tomatoes and (something else that is red?) to lettuce and... is that bread on the ground? It, too, has a suspicious yellow smear above it on the wall.

A little boy pops up behind the table. "Mokako!" his tiny voice says, "You're just in time for my newest creation!"

"It looks colorful. You're cleaning it up, not me." she deadpans.

"You really think so? I wasn't hoping to make a picture but that's awesome, too! Two things achieved at once!"

"Oh?" Fuyuse curiously eyes the boy, "What are you making, then?"

"Don't-"

"Oh right, you're new! I was making food!" the boy replies to Mokako's horror for what is going to ensue. The boy picks the bread up from the floor, "Orange pie!" proudly presenting the bread with some poor, poor orange pieces squashed on top of it, covered with something white which is apparently the plaster off the wall. Even the cat doesn't dare cast it a second glance.

"That's not how you make pie." Mokako says.

"Of course it is! Let me teach you. The fruit is supposed to go into the bread but it needs some help sometimes," he pushes one of the pieces in with his thumb, "and you make the whole thing softer if you throw it harder, too! Ok, so maybe it's soft and maybe it's hard and crunchy, that's always a tossup with pies."

Fuyuse chuckles, "But it's not something you'd probably eat, now isn't it?"

"All good cooking must start somewhere!"

"And it doesn't look awfully warm for something that was just prepared."

"Maybe I shouldn't have bypassed the oven part... It just takes forever that way, you know?"

While Fuyuse and the boy are busy, Mokako sees the cat sniffling curiously at a canister which has some sort of sticks poking out of it. Once she pays more attention to it, she distinguishes a smell that the kitty might have been so curious about. Chocolate? Baked goods? Inch by inch, she sneaks away from the two, only to find that her and the cat's assumptions were true. Fresh, warm chocolate, covering freshly made sticks that are edible. The reason she knows they are edible is that, by the time she snaps out of thinking about them, she is already nomming on a mouthful.

"H-Hey!" the boy yelps, "Those are still a prototype!"

Fuyuse snapped to what the boy is addressing and sees a blissful Mokako with sticks sticking out of her mouth, saying: "They'we show fwesh! I couldn't 'elp myshelf."

"Waaaaa! Wh... Wait, are they good?"

Mokako's stickful smile is the answer to that, but it makes Fuyuse curious when she feels the smell of chocolate too. "Did you just cook that chocolate?"

"Yup!" the boy says, blushing out of happiness.

"You made chocolate but you couldn't be bothered to bake a pie?"

"That's more complicated, you know? You gotta do a lot of things to make chocolate, but when you wanna make fruit pie? Bread and fruit already exist so why not just mash them together? It saves time! I just need to work on it a bit more, I _know_ I'm close! Now, only if it tasted a little better..."

Fuyuse smiles, "If you can made pocky sticks, you'll make pie on no time. What's your name, little boy?"

The boy grins, "Hiroshi Moto! Nice to meet ya, lady! Hey, don't you two eat all of it, alright? I need some samples."

Fuyuse never lets that smile down. "Fuyuse. Nice to meet ya, Hiroshi. What are the other meals anyway?"

"Only strawberry milkshake, but I need to improve. I have to. One day, everyone will eat my food because I will become Hokage!"

And with that, the boy storms off, leaving the girls and the cat alone in the room.

"I see you've made do with my cat's tracking abilities." Fuyuse says.

"You ushe it to pfind pfood?" Mokako garbles.

"_Use_ might not be the correct term but it's one of his many talents. I'd use insects but food gets icky if they walk over it." Fuyuse says.

Mokako finishes her mouthful of pocky sticks, offering a stack of them to Fuyuse while helping herself with another handful.

Fuyuse gets addicted to pocky sticks soon after.

The kitty doesn't take long to follow suit either. _How pocky sticks are liked by a cat is solely Hiroshi's fault._

~

The Uchiha in the police team scratch their heads when they find two ruffians scrambling to escape out of what appears to be a giant anthill, minus any actual ants.

The two would-be kidnappers are never happier to get hauled out and thrown into a jail cell.

**Author's Note:**

> Please do not feed your cats pocky sticks. Chocolate is bad for kitties.
> 
> Fuyuse can talk to other types of insects and has some local ants create an anthill solely for the purpose of bogging down the two civilian thugs, then asks them to relocate rather than staying to bite the thugs, since she doesn't want any of them getting crushed.
> 
> Hiroshi is the Clan head in 'Carrotpatch'. He's younger than Mokako, but relative ages may be a bit off.  
This incident is the start of the beloved Moto pocky stick tradition.


End file.
